Some customers need to see how much of an invoice is work rather than materials. Service value is that number. It sits on the invoice as its own amount, it can be printed on the invoice document, and Invoice+ calculates it from the lines.
Service value is switched on per Microbizz solution. If you do not see the field on your invoices, it is not turned on for you. Contact us and we will sort it out.
How the number is calculated
Invoice+ needs to know which of your products count as service. You do not mark them one by one. You mark a product category, and every product in it counts as service.
The service value is the sum of those lines, quantity times price, in the same way the invoice total is.
Example. An invoice with 3 × service product at 200 and 3 × material at 100 totals 900. The service value is 600.
Setting it up
Two decisions, both made once.
Which categories are service
Go through your product catalogue and tick Is service products? on every category that is work rather than goods. Labour, hours, call-outs and inspections are service. Parts, consumables and anything you buy in to sell on are not.
The decision is per category, so check that your categories are actually split that way. A category holding both an hourly rate and a box of fittings cannot give a correct answer whichever way you tick it. Splitting that category in two is the fix.
The service percentage for fixed price tasks
A fixed price task arrives as a single amount with no breakdown, so there are no product lines to add up. For these, Invoice+ uses a percentage instead.
Set the percentage to the share of a typical fixed price job that is labour. Invoice a fixed price task of 1,000 with the percentage at 80, and the invoice carries a service value of 800.
|
If your fixed price work is |
Set it around |
|---|---|
|
Almost all labour, for example service agreements or inspections |
90 to 100 |
|
Labour with some materials, the common case for trades |
60 to 80 |
|
Mostly supply with some fitting |
20 to 40 |
|
Never fixed price, or you do not want an estimate on the invoice |
0, and set the value by hand where it matters |
One number covers all fixed price work, so pick it for the jobs you do most and correct the exceptions on the invoice itself.
When you need to act
Most of the time the value is filled in when lines arrive and is correct. Two situations need you.
You changed or removed lines
Editing lines does not update the service value. Adding lines does, but changing a price, changing a quantity or deleting a line leaves the service value where it was. This is deliberate, because the value can be adjusted by hand and an automatic recalculation would overwrite that adjustment.
After reworking the lines on an invoice, press Recalculate service value. It rebuilds the number from the lines as they now stand.
Change lines, recalculate, then check the total.
The split is different this time
Type over it. The field is editable, and it will not accept less than zero or more than the invoice total.
Use this for a fixed price job that was nothing like your usual split, or where the customer has agreed a specific breakdown. Pressing Recalculate service value afterwards will replace what you typed.
Putting it on the invoice
Service value is an ordinary field, so it can be placed on your invoice layout. If the reason you are using this feature is that a customer asks for the figure, this is the step that delivers it to them.
Checking that it is working
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Build an invoice with one service line and one material line. The service value matches the service line alone.
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Add a second service line. The service value goes up by that line.
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Delete a service line. The value does not change. Press Recalculate service value and it drops. Both halves of this are correct.
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Invoice a fixed price task of 1,000 with the percentage at 80. The invoice shows a service value of 800.
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Try to type a value higher than the invoice total. The field refuses it.
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Look at the generated PDF. The figure is where your layout puts it.
Next: 5. Posting and sending